The Runaway {Hunter} (WATTYS 2022)

Chapter 10

The wind howled, blowing sand in the faces of those who walked the land. Visibility was low as Cora, Rex and General Skywalker ran across the sand field towards the towers. A crack of thunder sounded from the dry environment. The lights of the tower came into view as Cora, Rex and General Skywalker ran towards them, the Bad Batch watching their surroundings.

As General Skywalker approached the Sergeant and lowered his blaster, "We're in business, General." They all moved closer to the tower, "Tech regained Echo's signal. It's coming from this tower." Hunter turned to Tech who kneeling in front doors pad, trying to hack into the system on the door. "How's its going Tech?"

Tech stayed silent. His eyes and mind fixed on the pad for the door in front of him. After a moment, the door opened, revealing the inside of the tower. Everyone turned to the now open door but looked back to Tech once he stood up, "Sorry it took so long."

"Hey, Crosshair, check it out." Hunter said turning to his brother.

Crosshair nodded and pulled his sniper up. He looked inside and stood in the middle for a minute. "Yeah," he lowered his gun, "It's a lift." He said sarcastically.

"Well we already knew that." Hunter said as they all stepped inside the lift.

Wrecker stood outside, in the blowing sand for a second as everyone waited for him to join them. "Wait, wait, wait. A lift?" He looked up to the sky where he saw the height of the lift and the tower itself.

"Don't worry, Wrecker." Hunter turned back to his team member, "I'll hold your hand."

"Hey!" Cut it out, Sarge." Wrecker hit Hunter's shoulder, "Just get me some droids to crush." He brushed past Hunter, standing next to Cora, who looked up to the large clone.

She said nothing to them as the lift closed the doors and made its way up the tower.

"Remember, this is a stealth mission." The General said as the wind blew outside "No blasting, no blowing things up. Nobody knows we're here."

The doors opened and in front of them stood a group of droids. Wrecker ran out of the lift, yelling, racing towards the droids. His brothers followed close behind as they started destroying and shooting the droids that were in the room with them. The General, Rex and Cora all stood in the lift and watched Clone Force 99, make as much noise as possible.

Rex sighed, "So much for stealth."

"Why am I here?" Cora grumbled as she pulled out her blasters. She was the stealth expert in the group, she was asked to come for this reason. Yet here she was, standing in the middle of a group of men, blustering their way through their problems.

By the time the three stepped out of the lift, the Bad Batch had taken care of all the droids in the room. Wrecker began to laugh and yell, causing everyone to the clone, he stopped and looked at everyone who watched him.

"Uh..." he put his arms down, "I just got excited."

Everyone regrouped in the middle of the room. Cora looked towards the smashed open window as the air blew through. The sandstorm was now well below them and they were high above the clouds. She turned back to the group as they looked down a hallway that was in front of them.

"I've still got a lock on Echo's signal." Tech said to the group.

"All right men." Hunter said putting his gun in his arms. He looked towards Cora, "and Senator." He added. "Let's hunt some droids." He walked off in front of the group.

"Now you're talking! Yeah!" Wrecker cheered.

Cora couldn't help but smirk under her mask. She shook her head as she followed Rex who was behind Hunter. "Are you always this excited about taking down droids, Wrecker." She asked looking over her shoulder.

Wrecker, who was behind Tech, nodded. "It brings me great joy." He chuckled.

"How fortunate for the Republic." Crosshair said behind him.

Cora shook her head again and smiled. They made it to the next hallway, Hunter leading the group. He motioned for Rex to go behind him once they turned the corner on the hall. Like clockwork, Rex and Hunter were back to back, shooting the droids that patrolled the hallway. General Skywalker walked out into the hall once the droids hit the ground, Cora followed.

"Where exactly is Echo's signal coming from?" The General asked Tech.

With his nose still on his pad where the comm signal was, he looked up only for a moment. "Strange." He started, "I just lost the signal."

Rex took off his helmet, "What? How can that be? There's no atmosphere disturbances up here."

Tech who was still trying to find the signal looked up to the Captain, "Well, I have a new theory. I'm surprised I did not consider it earlier." He looked back down. "The signal is only traceable durning data transmissions. So until Echo dispenses more intel, I cannot pick up the signal."

"Okay, we're splitting up." The General said, "Search every door. If someone finds Echo, contact the others. We go in together, just in case there's trouble."

Everyone nodded and Rex nudged Cora, telling her to stick with the Captain. Rex placed his helmet back on his head as she nodded and followed him off down the hall. Behind her, she saw Crosshair go with the General and the rest of the team followed Rex and Cora.

"Oh great." Cora mumbled as she ran next to Rex. Rex stole a glance at her. He looked over his shoulder and saw why she had turned sour.

She never turned down a chance to work with a clone, and she never had problems with any. But there was something about Clone Force 99 and their way of working that got Cora all mixed up. She was a stealthy person, that is her style of work. Cora wasn't also in the mood to face Hunter who had doubted this whole mission from the start. It was starting to get under her skin. She couldn't like him, or hate him. There was just something about him.